Help & Advice - Mortgage Shortfall

silvercar

I would be thinking of offering a low monthly amount to keep them at bay and then borrowing some money and making them a full and final offer in settlement. You would be surprised how low they will settle for, often they are chasing people with no money and no realistic way of raising money. Settlement can be as low as 20% of the debt. Do a SOA with as high costs as you can, showing as small amount of spare cash as possible and offer that. Then he can say that someone is prepared to help him out with a loan in F&F settlement and ask them to consider 6k. They'll probably reject your initial offer but that will get the ball rolling.

I wouldn't be looking at bankruptcy in this situation.

Penelope_Penguin

AuntyJean wrote: »

So, his choice seems to be:-

a) pay £625 to go bankrupt, and let the court decide what amount he could pay which would cease after 3 years.
b) make an offer and pay off what he feels reasonable for the next 13 years.

Life just ain't fair.

It's £700 from 1 June.

AuntyJean

Rang National Debtline Monday and asked for options. Was strongly advised to send the first letter from their templates asking for a breakdown. This also advises there is no admission.

At first I thought this was a pointless exercise but when I looked at all our paperwork I found the mortgage was for £101k but the property was on the market for £84k (I have a printout). So if it sold for circa £80k then the shortfall (before interest etc.) should be circa £25K not £33k they are asking for?

Also found out that even if he is not contributing to my mortgage because he is paying towards his keep I may have to contribute if he chooses bankruptcy!!!! I wasn't even party to his mortgage!!

I was also informed that all properties sold can be found on websites. I have searched most of them and his was not listed. Can anyone tell me how a property can escape being listed if it has been sold?

silvercar

I was also informed that all properties sold can be found on websites. I have searched most of them and his was not listed. Can anyone tell me how a property can escape being listed if it has been sold?

Repossessions, company purchases, council-right-to-buys are often not listed.

If you want the price you can download the deeds from the land registry for £4.

AuntyJean

silvercar wrote: »

Repossessions, company purchases, council-right-to-buys are often not listed.

If you want the price you can download the deeds from the land registry for £4.

Thanks for the advice. Managed to obtain deeds and found house sold for £77k. (It was listed by an estate agent at £84,999). Is that a reasonable drop in price?.

That leaves a shortfall before charges, interest etc. of just over £24k from the date of the possession order.

Does anyone know what the average offer (percentage of debt) is that companies accept?

NeverAgain_2

...Does anyone know what the average offer (percentage of debt) is that companies accept?...

If you can negotiate a settlement, you need to have it absolutely clear from the lender that it regards your partner's liability as fully discharged.

Were I them, I would chase the ex-wife for the rest, which doesn't matter to you, but you don't want confusion over who is responsible for what part of the debt.

The divorce settlement may be another complicating factor.

From the lender's point of view, it's a bit messy to let one person off the hook and not the other, so I think you will struggle to get anything from them.

It's also very early to talk about discounts, because the amount of the debt has only just been calculated following the sale of the house.

And just to add a note of realism, why should they discount what they are owed?

You wouldn't accept short change in a shop.

kepar

set and the house was repossessed with a shortfall of over £32k.


That leaves a shortfall before charges, interest etc. of just over £24k from the date of the possession order.

How much is actually owed?????????

When an estate agents sells a repossessed house after about a month if they have not met the full price but have had an offer, this will be put in your local paper. In my area, we have a local paper called the advertiser(most areas do) , in the housing section estate agents put an advert in saying that they have received a bid of £xxxx and if this hasn't been upped by a certain time then that is what it will go for.

In your OH's case the estate agent took an offer and no beat that. In my case my house was worth circa £140k, but went for less than £100k.
If you have got money, you can do well on others misfortunes.


The problem I see is that your OH works with a good income and his ex doesn't. I cannot see why the mortgage company would waste more than 1 minute chasing her for the shortfall or part of it. IF they did it would probably go to court and she would have to pay £1 a week/month.

You need to get exact figures of what is owed and make an offer, but they might the full amount. That is why I suggested in an earlier post to see if he could pay monthly. It might be a pain for 2-3 years but at least it would be clear.

silvercar

And just to add a note of realism, why should they discount what they are owed?

Because they can't get blood from a stone. If there is no money, there is no money.

In collection terms far cheaper to accept a one off payment and then close the file than chase and chase and end up in court being forced to accept £5 a week.

But any settlement has also got to be better for the lender than waiting for the money. Lenders have 6 years to chase (may be 12 yrs for a secured debt), so they often give years in the hope you will get your life back in order, start earning money and then start demanding payments.

silvercar

AuntyJean wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Managed to obtain deeds and found house sold for £77k. (It was listed by an estate agent at £84,999). Is that a reasonable drop in price?.

That leaves a shortfall before charges, interest etc. of just over £24k from the date of the possession order.

Does anyone know what the average offer (percentage of debt) is that companies accept?

77k on a repo at 85k seems very reasonable to me.

AuntyJean

OH has just successfully reclaimed PPI and has a cheque to be cashed - just over £4.5k.

My concern is if he pays it into his bank will the mortgage company want all of it in one lump sum? What if he transfers it to my account will they then query where this money went?

We are still waiting for a reply to our letter asking them to show how much he owes etc. and have not yet done a breakdown of income/outgoings.

Unfortunately cheque is crossed so he can't pay it into my account.

This is the first large sum of money he has ever had and has already considered payments to his 80 year old mum and newly born first grandchild. He would rather it go to them than to a void.

Any suggestions?